A high-containment germ-research laboratory at the University of Georgia flooded twice this fall, and in one of the overflows, water leaked into a basement that had a lower security level than the lab itself, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

University officials say the incidents posed no threat to workers, students, or the public because the water that escaped in the first incident, on September 24, was not contaminated. They acknowledged, however, that any leak outside the lab raises serious concerns. The lab has been shut down and will remain closed until officials are confident the flooding problem has been resolved. Other laboratories continue to operate in the building, the Animal Health Research Center in Athens, Ga.

According to the newspaper, both flooding incidents occurred after a door on sterilizing equipment failed to seal, allowing water to be pumped throughout the night. The university was not required to report the incidents because the lab was working with a low-risk virus.

The animal-research building, originally scheduled to open in 1999, had to be largely reconstructed before the experiments it was designed for could begin, in 2006, the newspaper said. The latest problems come to light as the university vies for a $500-million federal biodefense facility that would be built on another site on its campus to study contagious human and animal diseases. —Charles Huckabee